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Palace of Versailles Facts

Detail of a fleur-de-lys, symbol of the French monarchy, at a restoration workshop for the Palace of Versailles.
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Photograph by National Geographic Channels/ Max Salomon

Published March 16, 2013

Versailles is both a palace (palais) and a castle (chateau). Members of the court at
Versailles used both words interchangeably.

The Palace of Versailles was accessible to members of the
public, who would gather for royal audiences, or even just to stroll and chat.

Damage to decorative vases and statues in the gardens
once lead Louis XIV to make them private, but he later changed his mind,
proclaiming that his beloved fountains should be “for the public”.

After its construction, Versailles soon became
the subject of widespread admiration and was imitated throughout Europe.

The Versailles of old was dimly
lit, as lighting was used sparingly to protect its ornate walls and ceilings
from smoke damage. Mirrors gained favor as a way of boosting available candlelight,
an infatuation that culminated in the Hall of Mirrors.

On grand occasions, twenty
thousand candles and glittering chandeliers would be used to transform the Hall
of Mirrors into a “corridor of light”.

Louis XIV, the Sun King,
controlled his image using stringent etiquette and ceremony. Every mundane act,
including getting up in the morning or going to bed, was turned into a
performance that the public attended in reverence.

Louis XIV had a passion for
fountains, and as much as a third of Versailles’ total building budget was spent
on its water supply system alone

The Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces), originally known as
the Great Hall (Grande Galerie), used
to be an outdoor terrace. It was later converted into a dazzling indoor space
to showcase one of Louis XIV’s most prized collections—his sculptures of
antiquity.

The Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the
First World War, was signed in Versailles’ stunning Hall of Mirrors. It was also
in this very room that, nearly five decades earlier, Germany had declared itself
an empire.